Mr. Simon Adare, a professor of the Sekolah Indonesia Davao, imparted his knowledge among the participants of the forum. Photo by Ran Ema/APS.

Fourth year AB International Studies – American Studies students, in collaboration with the US Embassy, American Corner, and Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI), organized the “Realizing ASEAN 2015” held at the American Corner yesterday, September 13. The event is the second leg of the ASEAN Youth Dialogue, a program that seeks to inform and spread awareness regarding the ASEAN Integration.

In the forum, YSEALI acquainted students and youth leaders to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Integration 2015. YSEALI consists of youth leaders aged 18 to 35 years old from the Southeast Asian countries that have innovative ideas in addressing the problems found in the ASEAN region.

ASEAN Integration 2015 is the conglomeration of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia as they aim for cooperation in economic, cultural, educational, and social fields. This integration is set to happen in the year 2015.

“Knowing that ASEAN 2015 is coming near already, we want the students and the participants to have this vision of what to expect on the ASEAN 2015,” Alina Arancel, ABIS-AMST4 student, said.

Participants from Ateneo de Davao University, University of Mindanao, and Mindanao Kokusai Daigaku were divided into three groups. Each group had three different discussions about economics, socio-culture, and politics.

The lecture about Economics was led by Mr. Romeo Montenegro, Director for Investment Promotion and Public Affairs Office of Mindanao Development Authority. His talk was entitled “ASEAN Economic Community: Challenges and Opportunities”, where he spoke about the economic aspect of ASEAN 2015.

On the other hand, the socio-cultural lecture was entitled “Harmony and Peace through Angklung”. It was discussed by Mr. Simon Adare, a professor in Sekolah Indonesia Davao. He talked about the musical instrument, Angklung, and the importance of music to the Filipinos.

Lastly, Mr. Ramon Beleno, III, professor in the Political Science and History Department of AdDU, elaborated about the region’s politics with his lecture entitled “Dynamics of ASEAN Politics”. He focused on the political and security challenges faced by the ASEAN.

Mr. Akeem Fabila, professor in the International Studies Department, said that the forum will be followed up by more events that will raise awareness about ASEAN.

“From the IS Department, we hope to organize more activities with regards to ASEAN, especially as we approach 2015. I think it’s better that we create more activities that could create awareness among, especially, the young people, the students, and the youth,” Fabila said.